Esme met us on the porch and pulled me into a tight hug, telling Em and I we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted.

25-Answers

We all made our way into the living room and sat down on the plush couches. No one said much. I don't think anyone knew what to say...until Rosalie spoke up.

"So....Phil's a psycho huh?" That broke the tension and everyone let out a small chuckle.

"You have no idea Rose." I said seriously.

"Well...why don't you tell us. All we know is that Phil killed your Mom...and that he hit you guys..." Jasper raised his voice at the end, as if questioning the statement.

"Yea" I mused "He hit us." If only that were all he did.

"Sounds like there's a lot more to that story....you can trust us Bella" my little Pixie friend, always so comforting. I took in a deep breath and released it slowly, then turned to Edward, who was currently holding me tightly on his lap. He didn't even know all of what happened, just Em and Charlie.

"Well......Renee was unhappy when I was growing up. She never once smiled. Then when I was about 8 she meets This guy. Phil. And all of a sudden she's laughing and smiling. She's happy. He was visiting Florida but when it was time for him to go back to California Renee followed. He wasn't nice, at all. He hit us. A lot. And I took it, because no matter how much it hurt, Renee was happy.

Can you imagine...being 8 years old and the first time you see your Mom smile, it's because of some random guy. I promised myself I'd do anything to keep her happy, and that meant taking his abuse. He'd lock me in the closet sometimes, and not let us eat a lot. He didn't want us fat. That's why I was so skinny. We had these weekly weigh-ins, and he'd beat the shit out of us if we were too much. When I was 12 he started having sex with me." I shuddered at the memory, and Edward felt it. He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned into his embrace.

"I love you" was whispered in my ear so low only I could hear him.

I cleared my throat and began again, "That's what the tattoo on my neck is for. He took something from me, and I was too young and messed up to understand. My 12 year old mind couldn't process what happened, it just felt like I was missing something. Well, I figured 'he took something, then I'll add something. Balance'. I know it was dumb, now, but I didn't know how to cope. Sometimes he'd bring a friend over. I'm sure Renee knew, but she never said anything. He started hitting her more, and she just...became an empty shell. She stopped working, and gave up. I'd help her clean herself up after Phil was passed out. She was a nurse and had taught me a lot but she didn't have the will power to do anything about taking care of herself anymore. Phil didn't let us keep aspirin and stuff like that in the house, so sometimes I'd drink whatever he left laying around. Just to get numb enough to sleep. He started using drugs....and I used them too. But I stopped when I found out I was... pregnant." A strangled sob escaped from my lips, and I turned into Edward's chest to hide myself from them.

"It was about a week before Renee died. I stopped smoking and drinking and everything. I wanted to take care of my baby. I knew I'd have to leave so Phil didn't kill it." I was crying a lot more, but I managed to calm down a bit as Edward rubbed my back soothingly.

"As much as I didn't want to be a mom at 15, I knew I couldn't kill the my baby. I was so scared, I didn't know what to do so I told Renee. I'm so stupid. She was pissed. She confronted Phil. She said she was kicking him out and we were going to the police. She said that the baby was proof. Even if no one believed us about the abuse, he was still a 26 year old man who got a 15 year old girl pregnant. Consensual or not, it was still illegal. Well...Phil freaked. He started hitting her her. It was different than usual. He was using all his strength, not stopping. I knew he was going to kill her...us. I tried to stop him. I ran upstairs to get my phone and call the cops, but he came after me and threw me down the stairs. Then when he came back down with his gun, I tried to stop him from shooting her. That's when he shot me in the stomach and Renee in the head. He was about the shoot me again, but he heard the sirens, dropped the gun, and ran away. I passed out and woke up the next day in the hospital. I had a miscarriage while I was there. I didn't want my baby to die. It's my fault Renee is dead, and my baby...It's all my fault. I'm so so sorry. If I hadn't told Renee, she wouldn't have confronted him, and he wouldn't have killed her. Then none of this would have happened. I could have run away...or something..."

"But then I would have never met you. You wouldn't be here with us. Bella, we all love you so much. You're my baby sister! It's not your fault....he would've found some reason to kill her eventually..." Big strong arms wrapped themselves around me while I was still buried in Edward's chest. I released my boyfriend and turned to my brother, who just held me until I eventually cried myself to sleep.

SAD CHAPTER, I KNOW...BUT I NEEDED THE OTHERS TO KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED...ESME'S GONNA TELL CARLISLE WHEN HE GETS HOME (HE'S STILL AT WORK) SO....

**SHOULD I MAKE PHIL COME TO FORKS AND FIND BELLA...OR JUST HAVE THE COPS FIND HIM IN FLORIDA?** tell me what you think!

-FRK921-